Dodgers co-owners Mark Walter & Todd Boehly to buy minority Lakers stake, per reports
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69508091/146563955.0.jpg)
A pair of Dodgers co-owners are reportedly buying into the Lakers. Team chairman and controlling owner Mark Walter, as well as co-owner Todd Boehly, are purchasing 27 percent of the Lakers, per Scott Soshnick of Sportico.
This is the share of the team owned by Philip Anschutz, billionaire head of AEG, which owns Staples Center. Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times confirmed that Anschutz was selling his ownership stake in the team.
Per Soshnick, “The transaction values the Lakers at about $5 billion, according to two of the people, who were granted anonymity because the matter is private,” which would mean the minority stake was sold for roughly $1.35 billion.
The deal, if completed, would need to be approved by the NBA board of governors.
The Buss family owns a majority of the Lakers, with Jeanie Buss the team president and controlling owner. But should the family decide to sell, the right of first refusal would give Walter and Boehly the first chance to buy and gain controlling ownership.
Jerry Buss bought the Lakers and The Forum from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979, and owned the team until his death in 2013. That’s when Jeanie Buss took over. Her brothers Jim and Johnny Buss tried to oust Jeanie from the Lakers board of directors in 2017, but a temporary restraining order thwarted the brothers’ attempt, which was later withdrawn.
Also worth noting. Anschutz had a seat on the Lakers board of directors. This became very relevant when Jim Buss tried to overthrow his sister, Jeanie Buss, a few years ago. Jeanie, prevailed. But it’s unclear whether the Anschutz seat will transfer as well.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 26, 2021
Walter and Boehly have been a part of Guggenheim Baseball Management group that purchased the Dodgers in 2012 for a then-record $2.15 billion, a sale price that included Dodger Stadium and the land surrounding it. Boehly’s exact stake in the Dodgers is unknown, but Barron’s reported it in 2019 as 20 percent of the team.
Walter and Boehly, along with several other Dodgers co-owners including Magic Johnson, also purchased the Los Angeles Sparks in 2014.
In March, Forbes valued the Dodgers at $3.57 billion, second in MLB only to the Yankees. Sportico has the Lakers valued at $5.14 billion, the third-highest in the NBA, behind the Knicks and Warriors.
Philip Anschutz set to sell Lakers shares to two of the Dodgers’ owners
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Dodgers have long shared the marquee across the city’s sports landscape. Now, they’ll share even more.
Two members of the Dodgers ownership group, chairman Mark Walter and co-owner Todd Boehly, are buying the largest minority ownership stake in the Lakers from AEG founder Phillip Anschutz, sources told The Times on Saturday.
The Lakers declined to comment with the sale still not completed.
The deal needs approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors, the league’s other owners, before it can be made official. That vote can be conducted remotely, a source said.
In 2012, SportsBusiness Journal named Anschutz the fifth most influential person in sports business in its annual survey of the “50 Most Influential People in Sports Business.”
As part of the deal, Walter and Boehly will have the right of first refusal should Jeanie Buss and the Buss family decide to sell the Lakers. Sportico, whichfirst reported on the sale, said the Lakers were valued at $5 billion during the deal.
AEG chief executive Dan Beckerman told Sportico that the Lakers shares sale “is part of some financial planning and redeployment of capital to other AEG projects and growth initiatives.”
Beckerman didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong is also a minority owner of the Lakers, owning less than 5% of the team’s shares.
Anschutz upped his investment in the Lakers in 2001, two years after the team moved into his building, Staples Center, in downtown Los Angeles. The Lakers last month agreed to extend their lease at Staples Center until 2041, assuring the team’s partnership with AEG and Anschutz would continue despite the sale of his shares.
As part of the lease agreement, “nine figures” worth of improvements to the building have been pledged. Staples Center is scheduled to lose one lessee, the Clippers, when the team moves to its own privately financed building in Inglewood in 2024.
A source told The Times that Anschutz’s sale of his Lakers shares will not affect his ownership of the Kings or Galaxy.
Since the Walter-led Guggenheim Baseball Management group purchased the Dodgers in 2012, he and his partners have been rumored to be actively shopping for more sports property in the city. When AEG was up for sale in 2012, Walter and Boehly were considered strong contenders as buyers before Anschutz decided not to sell.
Since buying the Dodgers from Frank McCourt for $2 billion, the team has made eight postseason appearances and three trips to the World Series, winning the championship in 2020 for the first time since 1988.
Walter, known to be relatively hidden during the season, delivered a lengthy celebration speech following the team’s win against Tampa Bay in Texas.
In addition to his role with the Dodgers, he chairs Guggenheim Partners, a financial investment company with about $315 billion of “assets under management.” Forbes estimates Walter’s worth at $4.9 billion. Boehly, also an investment manager, owns a number of assets including the early publishing rights of the band, The Killers.
Walter and Boehly are also among the owners of the Sparks.
The Dodgers and the Lakers aren’t strangers, having already been intertwined, whether through shared local TV distribution deals via Spectrum Sports or Magic Johnson’s involvement with the two franchises.
In an interview with The Times in 2012, Boehly said the investment in sports had as much to do with broadcasting rights as anything else.
“The only way to be relevant in this world, in my opinion, is to own live content that brings people together — not physically, but through networks,” Boehly said. “That type of interactivity is programming that is extremely valuable. It’s not like it’s the box talking to you. And it’s only going to get more interesting as the interactivity develops.”
Walter and Boehly’s involvement as buyers came Saturday morning, with the first news of the sale breaking late Friday night.
